Police in Antwerp have detained 5 youths that are suspected on having planned to commit acts of violence against members of the city’s Jewish community. The news that the youths had been detained first appeared on the website of the daily ‘De Morgen’ and has since been confirmed by Antwerp police. Police carried out identity checks in and around the Harmonie Park in Antwerp’s Jewish Quarter after messages threatening and inciting violence against Jews had been circulated on social media.
Antwerp police detain 5 youths that intended to commit acts of violence against Jews
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Several messages, calling for violence to be committed against Jews in Antwerp were posted on social media at the end of last week following the violence against Israeli football supporters in Amsterdam. The violence in the Dutch capital followed the match between Ajax and the Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv. Dutch police say that troublemakers “actively looked for Israeli supporters in order to attack and assault them”.
The Antwerp police spokesman Wouter Bruyns told VRT News that " Several youths had agreed to do something similar in Antwerp’s Jewish Quarter yesterday (Sunday), so we increased surveillance”.
In the King Albert Park and Harmonie Park area, police arrested five suspects, some of whom minors. “They were taken into preventative custody. This means that we released them when the threat had passed.”
“People with suspicious items on their person, such as balaclavas or flags, were detained for several hours. This was also the case with those that would not leave the area after having been asked to do so the police and those that kept returning”, Mr Bruyns said.
Since the trouble in Amsterdam, Antwerp police have been closely monitoring the situation. “We are monitoring the situation closely. Last week we were able to intercept the messages related to the Jewish Quarter in Antwerp. We remain extra vigilant”